'India doing what Australia couldn't at their peak': Inzamam feels India have '50 guys ready' to play for national team

If Inzamam-Ul-Haq is to be believed, India's potential second-string squad would appears as strong as the one that will be in England playing Tests.

Former Pakistan captain Inzamam-Ul-Haq has hailed India's tremendous bench strength, saying they have managed to pip Australian cricket from the 90s and 2000s when it comes to assembling a large pool of talented players. The Indian team will be travelling to the United Kingdom to play New Zealand in the World Test Championship final starting June 18, followed by a five-Test series against England that gets underway from the first week of August.

Inzamam-Ul-Haq is mighty impressed with India's bench strength. (Getty/BCCI)

In the month of July however, India will play Sri Lanka in three ODIs and three T20Is, and with all the big players being away in England, the contingent that will travel to Sri Lanka will be a second-string squad. The vastly talented crop of young and experienced Indian players has left Inzamam in complete awe of how rich India's stock is when it comes to producing young and upcoming cricketers.

"This idea of assembling a second Indian team is very interesting What India are trying to do today, Australia did this years ago, but they were not able to be successful in it. But the scenario today is such that India appear to be pulling it off. For the first time I think it is happening that a national cricket team will be playing two different series. One side in one country and the other side in some other country, and both are national teams," Inzamam said in a video uploaded on his YouTube channel, 'Inzamam ul Haq - The Match Winner'

"When Australia were at their peak. From 1995 to say 2005-2010, they had tried to distinguish two international teams named Australia A and Australia B, but they didn't get the permission. India are doing what even Australia couldn't do in their peak. And the move makes sense given the isolation protocols and everything, and it couldn't have been possible to send the same team to both countries in such a gap," the former Pakistan captain added.

With the likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah in England, the likes of Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar and others will be in contention to make the flight to Sri Lanka for the limited-overs legs. If Inzamam is to be believed, India's potential second-string squad appears as strong as the one that will be in England, with the former Pakistan captain crediting India's domestic cricket structure and the IPL for the rich resources India have at their disposal.

"India at this time have so much strength that they are capable of doing this. Their pool of players is so huge that they are able to manage this. If you look at the players who would be travelling to Sri Lanka, it would appear as if this is India 's main team, such is their bench strength," Inzamam added.

"India have improved their First-Class structure and then there is the IPL as well that has helped assemble two different teams at the same time. India have prepared at least 50 guys who are ready to play for the national team."